Empowering Employees Through Corporate Giving

Improving health outcomes, supporting families in need, community building, and environmental stewardship are important CSR (corporate social responsibility) values to Klick.

The backbone of our CSR program is our employees, and we put importance on making sure that the causes we support are the ones that our teams care about and want to be involved in. All of our charitable initiatives are employee-led, placing the power of philanthropy in the hands of Klicksters.

At Klick, we’re always looking to give our teams a chance to develop their leadership skills. Whether by leading a team of Klicksters to champion their floors in an office-wide fundraising competition, or encouraging committee members to sound their ideas when thinking of new and inventive initiatives, employees can take the reins and drive each of our giving campaigns. When these campaigns are led by someone that is excited about getting involved, their passion is infectious and spreads to many more Klicksters.

It’s important to ensure that Klicksters are passionate about the causes that we give to, helping Klick to connect with employees through common values. We also rely on the success of campaigns from previous years to inform some of our giving, but make sure to give Klicksters the chance to let us know what’s important to them now. We do this on GivingTuesday.

GivingTuesday is recognized as the antidote to all of the self-indulgence we allow ourselves through Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the subsequent holiday season. On this day, Klicksters nominate their favourite charities on Klick’s in-company social media network, Chatter. The charities with the most “likes” get integrated into Klick’s charitable giving calendar for the next year. In this way, we know that the charities we give to will have an impact on our team. The Klickster that nominates the selected charity is deemed as the campaign champion, helping to drive the campaign and get others involved.

We have witnessed just how involved our employees get in charitable giving when they’re passionate about the causes we give to. One of the charities nominated on 2016’s GivingTuesday was Orangutan Foundation International because of their effort to reduce palm oil consumption and replant the rainforest, rebuilding a habitat for orangutans. This charity was nominated by Brittany after watching a documentary that shed light on the devastating effects of cutting down the rainforest. During April, in honour of Earth Day, Klicksters set out to replant an entire area of the Rawa Kuno Legacy Forest in Borneo, one tree at a time, where 1 tree = $1. In the end, Klicksters had not only planted 3247 trees, they had adopted two orangutans, Mr. Bernie and Trudeau, and donated to the care center where the orangutans reside. We continue to get updates about Mr. Bernie and Trudeau throughout the year.

More recently, Klicksters embarked on our most ambitious employee workplace giving campaign yet, Be Brave for SickKids, nominated by Klayton. Klayton, like most Klicksters, has been personally affected by SickKids. At age 2, mesmerized by their sparkle, Klayton decided to eat 2 light bulbs off of the Christmas tree. After his local hospital realized that they didn’t have the expertise to deal with this situation, he was rushed to SickKids for an urgent operation. Klick worked with SickKids to create our own fundraising site, and Klicksters teamed up to see which floor could raise the most in support of either rebuilding the SickKids campus, research, or building a nation-wide hospital network. Klicksters more than doubled their fundraising goal and chose to donate to ongoing research. The success of this month-long fundraising initiative was a reflection of the passion that Klicksters have for the cause.

Once again, we’re about to embark on our next charity nomination cycle, beginning with GivingTuesday. As we head into the giving season and the new year, we’ll renew our commitment to Klickster-led charitable initiatives.

Nicole is a results driven fundraiser with an urge to do good, learn, and travel. During her time at Klick, Nicole has worked to foster a true sense of community among Klicksters through her creative and caring initiatives. She brings years of events, volunteer coordination, and donor relationship building experience to her corporate social responsibility role at Klick.